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Government
Report
to
Senate
Committee
Warns
Seniors
About
Dietary
Supplements
Sept.
14,
2001
-
Elderly
citizens
using
dietary
supplements
that
are
supposed
to
promote
anti-aging
may
be
at
risk
of
doing
more
harm
than
good,
according
to
a
study
by
the
General
Accounting
Office
that
was
presented
to
the
Special
Senate
Committee
on
Aging
on
Monday,
Sept.
10,
2001
Follow
this
link
for
a
pdf
version
of
the
GAO
report:
GAO-01-1139T
The
report
says
common
supplements
can
have
``serious
health
consequences''
for
the
elderly
because
the
supplements
aggravate
medical
conditions
or
interact
with
medications.
It
also
said
that
up
to
11
percent
of
herbal
supplements
may
contain
harmful
contaminants,
including
pesticides.
The
dietary
supplement
market
is
a
nearly
$6
billion
annual
industry.
It
has
boomed
since
it
was
significantly
deregulated
in
1994,
according
to
the
Associated
Press
story
on
the
study.
Neither
the
Food
and
Drug
Administration
nor
supplement
manufacturers
are
required
to
test
supplements
to
determine
if
they
work
or
if
they
are
safe.
If
the
FDA
determines
a
supplement
is
unsafe,
it
can
order
that
it
be
stopped
being
marketed.
The
Federal
Trade
Commission
regulates
cases
involving
false
claims.
The
report
also
found
that
senior
citizens
spend
millions
of
dollars
on
products
that
do
not
work
as
promised
or
sometimes
do
nothing
at
all.
A
spokesman
for
the
Council
for
Responsible
Nutrition,
an
industry
group
that
represents
about
110
supplement
producers,
released
their
own
statement
supporting
dietary
supplements.
Follow
this
link
for
their
full
statement:
Click
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